


New Testament

by VoskaVixen



Category: RuPaul's Drag Race RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, Lesbian AU, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-18
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2021-02-12 22:28:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21483847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VoskaVixen/pseuds/VoskaVixen
Summary: Brooke Lynn is your average church-going christian, with a few secrets. Vanjie, well, Vanjie is a secret. Based on the song “Scotty Doesn’t Know” by Lustra, it was on repeat while I was writing!
Relationships: Brooke Lynn Hytes/Vanessa Vanjie Mateo
Comments: 17
Kudos: 41





	1. Chapter 1

“Hey Brooke, slow down girl!” Nina shouted as she sped through the crowded hall, squeezing past the hovering groups of students and ignoring the glares they were shooting her. Sighing, Brooke turns around to watch as Nina approaches with Plastique following closely behind.

“Thought we lost you there, is there somewhere you need to be?” Nina continued, slowing to a walk beside her with Plastique at her shoulder.

“Just the usual, Youth Group, you know?” Brooke replies as she throws the pair an apologetic smile. It’s the same excuse she’s been using for the past few weeks now and honestly she’s surprised they haven’t questioned her about her sudden weekly routine, but it seems to satisfy the girls.

“Ah damn! I forgot you were volunteering…” Plastique mused as she piped in, scrunching up her face in thought. “What about Saturday, are you free to come to my party? My parents won’t be home!” 

“Oh gosh, I completely forgot… is it okay if I let you know later? It’s just that I’d have to get a lift sorted, I’ll have to get up early for church and all.” She answers, shrugging. 

Usually she would love an opportunity to spend some quality time with her friends, but she suspected something else would require her attention, which was currently sounding much more appealing to the tall blonde. 

Plastique nodded enthusiastically, happy that Brooke hadn’t completely dismissed the idea. “Of course.” She stated, before glancing menacingly over at Nina. “Just let me know as soon as you can though, yeah? I know a certain guy who would love to see you there!” She continued before dissolving into a fit of giggles as Nina joined in.

Rolling her eyes, Brooke was about to reply with a very sarcastic “if he really knew her, he wouldn’t be interested.” but the words died in her throat as she heard yelling from outside the building. The trio turned and shared a look before heading for the doors, walking through the entrance and being greeted with a small crowd forming around their fellow classmates, Silky Ganache and Yvie Oddly as the two shouted obscene profanities at each other. 

The pair faced off for several minutes, and Brooke was about to continue on as she was unable to make out most of what they were saying from where she was standing when a loud booming voice halted any movement that was going on.

“HOLD UP.” A deep throaty voice shouted above the crowd as it’s owner made their way through the growing crowd. Brooke watched as a small brunette elbows her way into the circle, whipping people with her long hair as she passes them. 

“I left y’all hoes for two minutes. Two frickin’ minutes.” Vanjie groaned as she stared at the pair of loud mouths. The surrounding crowd began to fan away, disappointed that their show was now over, however, Brooke was even more intrigued as the small firecracker took control.

Just as the last of the group thinned out, Vanjie shot her hand out to grab another girl who had been attempting to silently escape. 

“Hold up there Mary, I left you in charge of them, I told y’all they can’t be left alone and now look what’s happened!” Vanjie scolded, still holding on to A’Keria’s jacket as she, along with the other two girls, hung her head in shame. 

“Those girls are nothing but trouble, I tell you.” Nina stated as she shook her head, effectively snapping Brooke’s attention away from the group. Realising that both Plastique and Nina were watching her, she quickly wiped the smile from her face and let out a small cough in an attempt to drag their attention away from the awe stricken expression she had been exhibiting.

“Aren’t they?” She agrees as a buzzing from her phone is heard, causing her to glance down at the notification she just received. Illy disguising a smile playing on her lips, she looked up at her friends. “Listen, I’ll text you girls later, but I really need to get going.” 

“Oh of course! Would you like a lift?” Plastique offered as she jiggled her car keys in her direction, a wide grin on her face. Smiling at her friend’s thoughtfulness, Brooke thanked her graciously before pulling them both into a hug. 

“I’m fine, I don’t mind the walk.” 

Glancing over Nina’s shoulder, she could see that Vanjie had finished scolding the rest of her friend group and was waving goodbye to them as she walked towards the car park around the corner. 

“Okay… if you’re sure…” said Plastique as she moved back out of the embrace, earning a nod from Brooke in return. 

The group waved goodbye as they headed in opposite directions, with Plastique and Nina both heading towards the car park and Brooke heading for the nearest campus exit. 

As she neared the exit, Brooke quickly glanced around for anyone she recognised to ensure that she wasn’t being watched, or worse, followed before she continued on, walking briskly for several minutes down the bare path. The Canadian had purposefully chosen that exit as it wasn’t used often.

Continuing down the path at a slower pace, Brooke heard a car approaching and turned around, watching as a beat up economy car jolted to a stop on the road beside her. 

“You gettin’ in, mama?” a distinctive voice boomed from inside the car before the window was even a quarter of the way down, causing a wide smile to grace the blonde’s lips. 

Opening the passenger door, Brooke lowered herself into the seat, before turning to look at her companion who was grinning back at her. She let her eyes run appreciatively across the small woman’s face as she took in her painted red lips and fluttering eyelashes. 

“You look really goo-” She began but lost all train of thought as Vanjie pushed herself across the car’s control console and her lips are on hers before she can finish her breath, a hand snaking up around the back of her head and tangling in her hair as she pulls her closer.

The kiss was over far too soon in Brooke’s opinion, as Vanessa pulled back to grin wildly, her eyes shining brightly from beneath her thick lashes. 

“I missed you.” Vanessa whispered as if she was admitting it for the first time and they hadn’t been secretly dating for several months now, causing Brooke to let out a breathy laugh. 

“We’ve been in the same classes all day, how could you possibly have missed me?” she questions as she rolls her eyes, simultaneously reaching over to place her hand over Vanessa’s and unconsciously draw shapes along her palm. 

“It’s not the same…” Vanessa responds as she frowns and looks away from Brooke. 

Using the hand that’s already on Vanessa’s, she interlaces their fingers and uses her other arm to tilt her head back towards Brooke. 

“I know Nessa, but we’re together now and we have the whole weekend, yeah?” 

The brunette’s lips quirk up in a small smile at the use of the nickname Brooke gave her and she nods briefly.

“You’re right, as usual.” She says in response before gesturing to Brooke to put her seat belt on. “Now, where you wanna go mama?” 

|| - X - || 

Finally, the paired decided on a small local diner on the other side of town, partially due to it not being very well known to their friends but mostly because Vanessa swore by their milkshakes and Brooke knew that if Vanessa, the biggest sweet tooth in existence, thought highly enough of them to call them her favourite then they must be good. 

As usual, Vanessa chatters away on the drive to the diner, describing in great detail what happened throughout the day, as if Brooke hadn’t been sitting across the room for the most part, competing the story with hand gestures as her voice grows increasingly louder throughout the story.

Brooke is happy to just sit back and watch, drinking her in, as she muses about how enthusiastic Vanessa is about everything. She’s convinced that she could listen to Vanessa talk forever and never grow tired of it, but watching her is even more fun. The facial expressions she pulls without realising she’s doing so are Brooke’s favourite, as Vanessa is known to wear her emotions on her sleeve and Brooke loves watching as her nose crinkles and her eyes flutter close when she giggles.

She’s the warmest and softest person that Brooke knows, and the most fiercest and unapologetically brutal due to how straight forward she could be. Brooke loved how she refuses to sugar-coat anything, yet she still maintains an aura of innocence and elegance.

She is herself; and she is proud.

And Brooke is unworthy.

By the time Brooke snaps out of her thinking, they have arrived at the diner and Vanessa has already unbuckled her seat belt and is looking over at her with a quirked eyebrow.

“Bitch, you gotta stop oferani-, overanu-, overthinking.” Vanessa states as she shakes her head, causing Brooke to inwardly cringe at her unnecessary use of profanity.

“You’re right, sorry.” Brooke quickly apologises and then curses herself silently under her breath. Vanessa is always telling her off for over-apologising and she already knows she is going to do it again, almost hearing the words before Vanessa has the chance to voice them.

“You don’t gotta apologise, baby. Just relax, it’s just us.” Vanessa sweetly replies without realising that, that was half of the problem.

Brooke attempted to suppress her anxious thoughts and let a small smile build on her lips as she met Vanessa’s eyes. Quickly removing her seat belt, she attempts to lighten the mood.

“Come on then, let’s go.”

“Yes! Let’s get those cookies mama!” Vanessa excitedly replies as she jumps out of the car and albeit skips towards the diner’s entrance, only just remembering to stop at the door to wait for Brooke, who simply shakes her head in disbelief at her girlfriend’s response. 

The two manage to find a booth in the far corner of the brightly lit diner and Brooke quickly takes note of how quiet it is. It’s small but cheery, a little old-fashioned - just like the rest of the town. 

A sweet-looking waitress came over and presented the girls with a menu each, asking if they would like anything to drink before she left them alone again. As much as Brooke tried not to, she couldn’t help but wonder what the woman was thinking. 

Did she know? Were they being obvious? 

Biting her lip, Brooke attempts to focus on the laminated menu in front of her, the words blurring together into a pile. Just when she thought she was going to pass out from the stress and anxiety, a hand stretched across the table and reached out, grabbing a hold of her wrist and moving to intertwine their fingers. 

Vanessa carried on reading the menu, seemingly oblivious despite her actions, and without glancing up she begins to speak. “I’mma get the cookies and cream milkshake… do you think it comes with a cookie? Oh, I hope so!” she mused, as she continued pretending to read the menu. “What about you?” 

Sighing in relief, Brooke knew that with Vanessa by her side, she could conquer anything.

“I…” She began, quickly glancing down at her menu. “I think I'll get the same.” she replies, scanning the menu with not much thought. 

“Oh!” Vanessa exclaims excitedly. “Why don’ we get one a them sharing ones? Yanno, with the two straws?” She says, or shouts as she gets more excited. “Sounds real romantic.” She finishes, as she looks up at Brooke while wiggling her eyebrows, earning a giggle from the blonde. 

“Sounds perfect.” 

It didn’t take long for the two to order and receive their shared milkshake. 

The two sipped in comfortable silence for a few moments, before Brooke pulled back to smile at Vanessa. 

“This is really good!” She says as she leans forward to take another sip, continuing to keep eye contact with Vanessa as she realises how close they are, their foreheads almost touching. 

“Really?” Vanessa questions excitedly. “I’m glad you like it!”

“Yeah. We should come here again, for another date.” She replies as the two continue to work their way through their milkshake.

Vanessa agrees.

“What excuse did you use this time?” Vanessa questions, as she wiggles her eyebrows and before Brooke can reply, she’s already listing scenarios. 

“I need to wash my pet goldfish-”

Brooke scowls playfully as Vanessa erupts into a mass of foghorn-esque giggles. 

“I don’t have a goldfish, that would hardly work.” She replies as she rolls her eyes.

“Hmmm.” Vanessa pouts. “You should get one.” she replies, causing Brooke to join in on her laughter. 

“Wait! Was it the good ol’ I need to reorganise my closet?” 

“Nessa! I told you not to ever bring that up again!” 

“I can’t believe they fell for that, you surely are something else mama.”

The couple are so lost in their discussion that they do not acknowledge it when the diner’s door opens and a familiar face walks in.

“Brooke?” A voice sounded from the front of the diner, causing the pair’s conversation to come to a halt as they look around. 

“Plastique!” Brooke exclaims, almost choking in shock at the sight of her friend; who had already started walking towards their table. 

“What are you doing here? I thought you were at that youth club thing!” Plastique questioned, before taking notice of Vanessa sitting across from Brooke and Brooke watches as she observes the singular milkshake, her eyes widening at the two straws. 

Brooke’s head spins as she tries to think of an excuse, her eyes fleeting between Vanessa and Plastique. 

“We were, we left early.” Vanessa lied as she turns away from Brooke, giving Plastique her full attention.

“Oh right! I didn’t know you went Vanjie, Brooke’s never mentioned it.” 

Brooke quickly snapped into action, joining in on the conversation. 

“She doesn’t, today was her first day. We came here to discuss it.” She explained, hoping that her expressions were neutral and she wasn’t giving anything away. 

“Oh! Well, I hope you don’t mind if I join you, do you?” Plastique questioned, as she began to slide in beside Brooke, not even waiting for an answer as she continues on with small talk about the menu. 

Out of the corner of her eye, Brooke can see that Vanjie is feeling uncomfortable and wishes she could do something about it. 

“Hey Plastique, how long have you been coming here?” Brooke enquiries, in an attempt to free Vanjie but it only made the situation worse.

“I haven’t been before, actually, one of my cousins got a part time job across the road and comes in for lunch with the rest of the workers - he says it’s good so I had to try it out.” Plastique explains before glancing between her companions. “What about you two? Who’s idea was it to come here?”

“Mine.” Vanessa replied dryly before putting on a fake smile. “My mum used to work here and the girls and I would stop in for a free meal.” 

Brooke tried not to look surprised, as she hadn’t known that about her girlfriend. She had just assumed that it was something to do with her friend group.

“Awk isn’t that lovely Brooke?” Plastique questioned as she bumped her shoulder against Brooke’s, earning a nod in response. “We should bring Nina here sometime, for a girls date.” she muses, before looking over at Vanessa.

“Maybe you and the others would like to join us too?” She questions eagerly, oblivious to the look shared between Vanessa and Brooke.

“Yeah! I’m sure they would love that!” Vanessa exclaims, and Plastique is back to making small talk and asking questions. 

It doesn’t take long for Plastique to get her order and she eats while she talks to the pair, discussing school projects and hobbies. 

“Hey! You’re coming to my party this weekend, right?” Plastique questions as she stares intensely at Vanessa. 

“Um, well… I’ll need to see if the girls are goin’.”

Plastique nods in response, satisfied with the smaller girl’s answer. 

The trio sit in a comfortable silence for a few moments, before Plastique bounces back into action with another question directed at Vanessa.

“Oh Vanjie! Did Brooke tell you about what happened to her car?” 

Brooke tries not to roll her eyes as Vanessa replies. Although Plastique didn’t know, Vanessa had been with Brooke when she’d gotten the flat tire and had helped her arrange to get it fixed.

As Plastique continues to speak, Vanessa catches Brooke’s eye from across the table and discreetly attempts to signal that she has had enough and wants to leave. As Brooke attempts to check her watch, Plastique catches her.

“Oh gosh, i’m sorry. I must be keeping you both back, especially you Brooke. I know how your parents can get.” As she speaks, Plastique smiles apologetically before rising out of her chair and grabbing her abandoned coat and bag which she had placed down earlier. 

“Yes, you’re right. It’s getting pretty late isn’t it?” Brooke replied, as she copied Plastique’s movements and began to get up. 

“It was good talkin’ to you.” Vanessa said to Plastique before turning to Brooke. “You ready?”

“You too!” Plastique responded, and just as Brooke was finishing nodding back at Vanessa and started to approach her, Plastique raised a hand and placed it on her shoulder quickly. 

“Wait! Would it not be easier for you to come with me? After all, Vanjie lives on the other side of town…” Plastique reasoned, and while Brooke knew her logic was correct - She also knew that Vanessa wasn’t going to be pleased at not only getting interrupted and lying during their date, but also because they would now be unable to say goodbye properly. 

“Ahh, yeah- yeah. That’s a great idea… I’ll see you later Ne-Vanjie?” Brooke responded, hoping that Plastique didn’t catch note of the accidental tongue slip, as she attempted to catch her girlfriend’s eyes. 

“Yeah… I guess.” Was Vanessa’s cold response, as she quickly turned around and walked out of the diner without a second glance.

“You know, I’ve never actually had a proper conversation with her before. She isn’t anywhere near as loud or obnoxious as she’s made out to be.” Plastique mused as they walked to the car together, after leaving the diner. 

“Hmm? Yeah, she’s pretty nice.” Brooke quietly responded, hoping that the conversation would shift to another topic.

Much to Brooke’s chagrin, Vanessa had seemed to be imprinted into Plastique’s brain, as if there wasn’t an uncomfortable silence filling the car, then the constant praising of Vanessa ‘Vanjie’ Mateo was. 

It wasn’t that she didn’t like talking about her girlfriend, but she was scared of saying too much and causing Plastique to become suspicious, especially when Plastique was already trying to think of guys to pair her up with at the party. 

Brooke could just see the shocked expression on Plastique’s face if she knew that Vanessa wasn’t into guys...

Fortunately for Brooke, she lived relatively close by and it only took several minutes before she was able to escape the metal hell that was Plastique’s car, especially with her driving. 

After a quick thank you and a wave goodbye, Brooke sped into her house, fumbling with the key in the lock several times in her haste to escape to her room. With a quick check of the living room, Brooke sighed in relief as her parents were nowhere to be seen. 

_ ‘They must have already headed up to bed.’ _She thinks to herself, as she makes her way up the stairs and into her room. Plugging her phone in to be charged, Brooke quickly sends Vanessa a text message.

**Brooke [23:43]**

Hey Nessa, sorry about Plastique… I’ll make it up you tomorrow, yeah? Xo

_ \- Message Delivered. _

She watches, momentarily, as the message is delivered before letting out a sigh. Hopefully Vanessa wouldn’t be too annoyed at her, it wasn’t exactly her fault that Plastique had unexpectedly ruined their date - yet she knew that on some level, it was.

While she waited for Vanessa’s reply, she busied herself around her room, completing her nightly routines and getting changed into her pajamas before settling into bed and picking up the phone to check, once more, for a notification. 

When Brooke was only met with her lock screen reading ‘00:12’, she quickly unlocked her phone and opened up the chat logs.

**Brooke [23:43]**

Hey Nessa, sorry about Plastique… I’ll make it up you tomorrow, yeah? Xo

_ \- Read [23:45] _

Frowning, she types out a good night message, before reconsidering and backspacing repeatedly to delete the message. Maybe it would be best if she left it until the morning to text Vanessa again. 


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's party time! There's no way that could go wrong, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who left kudos and such kind comments on the last chapter, it really mean't a lot and was such a huge inspiration for writing this chapter!
> 
> I would also like to thank my amazing beta, @/hy-jinkx , for helping me fix all the silly bits and getting it ready for everyone to view!

A distant knocking interrupts Brooke’s sleep, quiet and unfocused at first, before becoming more precise and sharper in tone. Blearily, she opens her eyes and lifts an arm from within the cosy layer of blankets to wipe at them. 

As her mind focuses, she hears the knocking once more, except this time it's louder and coming from the door to her room. 

“Whaaaaa?” She grumbles unintelligibly as she lifts her heavy head from her pillow, watching as the door creaks open.

“Brooke Lynn?” Her mother, Farra, calls from where she stands at the doorway. 

Immediately, Brooke snaps up into a sitting position. 

“Y-yeah mom?” She questions as she looks at the older woman, wondering what she was doing in her room. She usually doesn’t bother with Brooke and leaves her to her own devices, except for keeping up appearances at social events and church.

“You came in rather late last night, I just wanted to make sure everything was okay.” Farra replies as she indiscreetly looks around Brooke’s room. 

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine. I just lost track of time last night with the girls, we were trying out a new diner.” Brooke lies, hoping that her mother would buy the lie without a fuss. 

Farra nods in response. “Right, well I guess I'll let you get ready. Your father is out with work once again-” Brooke’s mother pauses then, attempting to correct her passive-aggressive tone. “Anyway. I’m going to head out, I'll see you later for dinner?” 

Frowning, Brooke lifts the heavy blankets off her body, tensing a little as the cool air hits her and she lifts her feet off of the bed, placing them on the cold hard floor before scrambling around to find her slippers.

“I, well, I actually won’t be here for dinner. I plan to get a large lunch just, as I’m heading over to Plastique’s for her party. I’ll be back later tonight, though.” Brooke states as she attempts to gauge her mother’s reaction. 

“Okay, sure. Just make sure you’re up and presentable for church tomorrow.” Farra replies before swiftly leaving the room without a response.

Rolling her eyes, Brooke reaches over for her phone to check for notifications. It had taken her a while for sleep to claim her last night, after she had cried a little. As if the situation with Vanessa didn’t make her feel bad enough, but now with the added stress of her mother she was even more upset. 

Usually talking to Vanessa would help, but as Brooke looks down at her phone she notices that there was still no response from her. Debating what her next move should be, Brooke thought about sending another message - as the pair would usually have text by now to plan a day out together.

Typing out a message, she changed her mind several times about what to write.

“Come on Brooke, you’re a big girl.” She mutters to herself as she types out a final message and hit send. 

**Brooke [09:30]**

Nessa… please respond. I was thinking we could have lunch then head to Plastique’s party together? Xo

_ Message Delivered. _

|| - X - ||

After getting ready, Brooke continues to constantly check her phone for a response from Vanessa as she busies herself around the house. Just as she is finishing off with the laundry, her phone begins to buzz from where she had left it on the kitchen table and Brooke jumps across the kitchen so fast that she could have joined the track team at school. 

Picking up the phone, she answers the call without even stopping to check the caller ID. 

“Hey!” She speaks into the phone, waiting for Vanessa to respond, however the voice that replies back doesn’t sound anything like the deep throaty bark belonging to the Latino. 

“Brooke, hey! You sound awfully cheerful.” Nina's voice carries through the receiver causing a small frown to play on Brooke’s lips. 

“Oh, yeah.” 

“Well hey, are you coming to Plastique’s later? We were thinking of heading into town and getting some new outfits for tonight, if you’re interested?” 

Brooke ponders the idea, since Vanessa was ignoring her, it was very likely that she would be attending the party later with her friends. On that note, Brooke had an idea.

“Yeah of course, that sounds great!”

Nina seemed shocked at her reply when she answered. 

“Fab! I’ll get her to send you a text when I pick her up, before we call for you!” Nina replied, before she hung up. 

An hour later, after Plastique had sent Brooke a text as promised, a car horn sounds from the street outside and she quickly grabs her purse and keys from her room before jogging down the stairs and exiting the house. 

As Brooke walks down the driveway, she watches as Plastique rolls down the passenger window and leans out, with Nina peaking over her shoulder, to wave and smile at Brooke.

“Hi!” She greets her friends as she hoists herself into the back seat of the car, marvelling at the difference between the pristine condition of the car’s interior compared to Vanessa’s rust bucket as she had a tendency to use the back seat as a rubbish bin. 

As she realised the car still hadn’t moved away from her house yet, she looked back up at the other girls and was met with Nina facing her. 

“Heeeeello? Brooke! Is anyone home?” Nina questions, a smile on her face as she searched Brooke’s face. 

Turning around to face the front, Nina continues on. 

“Alright. Now that you are listening, I was asking if you wanted to go anywhere specific for lunch?” 

“Lunch?” Brooke asks quizzically as she looked between the two girls, her brows furrowed in confusion. 

“Yeah, we decided to go out after shopping while you were busy daydreaming back there… are you alright? You’ve been rather spacey this week.” Plastique chimes in, as Nina pulls the car away from the concrete path and heads in towards the town. 

|| - X - ||

After arriving at the closest car park and agonising over choosing a parking space, the trio finally made their way into the first shop. Plastique was instantly rummaging through the nearest rack of new arrivals while Nina and Brooke head further into the store.

“So, Plastique was telling me that she met you and Vanjie at a diner last night.” Nina murmurs as she reaches out to grab at a random hanger, inspecting the article of clothing before glancing over to Brooke with a raised brow. 

“Yeah, she showed up last night and wanted to get dinner after, nothing really weird. She was at youth club so I thought I would talk to her seeing as we are in the same classes and such. It would have been rude not to. “ Brooke babbles rapidly while the arch in Nina’s brow grows the more she continues on. 

_ Shit. I’ve been caught out, _ she thinks to herself, her face paling. 

“Hmm, weird.” Nina replies as she finishes inspecting the brightly coloured garment and places it back on the rack. “I never took any of those girls as the religious type.” Nina concludes as her quirked eyebrow turns into a frown.

“Yeah, I don’t know. She seemed pretty genuine though?” Brooke mumbles, in an attempt to stand up for her girlfriend, even if the two aren’t talking at the moment - which was something she was hoping to fix. 

A few more stores and the shopping spree was going according to plan, with Plastique taking the lead and darting between the different rows, coming back armed with various garments they should try on.

Both Plastique and Nina had gotten an outfit for the party tonight, but nothing had captured Brooke’s eye; she needed something specific. Something that would impress Vanessa and catch her off guard. 

There was one more shop that Plastique approved of and the trio decides that they would try there before going for lunch and if Brooke didn’t find anything she liked then Plastique would just choose something from her closet and Brooke would be forced to wear it. 

_ Please let this store have what I need, _she prays to herself as they enter the store. 

As much as she loves Plastique and her outfits, her style was often very flashy and too ‘out there’ for Brooke’s tastes. Although, maybe that's the type of thing she needs to wow Vanessa. 

As they enter the store, Plastique gets to work immediately, searching through the various sale racks and picking out pieces before shaking her head disapprovingly and placing them back again. Nina looks over at Brooke before shrugging as if to say _ can’t beat her, join her, _and the pair begin to look through the other abandoned racks. 

Every so often, Plastique would hold up a dress that she deemed acceptable for the party, however they weren’t anything too special to Brooke. It wasn’t that she didn’t like them, or they weren’t _ her. _

It was more the opposite. 

Just as the trio were losing hope, Brooke catches a green twinkling out of the corner of her eye and turns to inspect the dress. Immediately, she is drawn in. It was very revealing, and definitely not something her parents would approve of, or something she would usually wear. 

_ But Vanessa would. _

With Vanessa in her thoughts, she is drawn to the dress and decides to try it on, carting it off to the dressing room before the other girls even realise she was no longer following them. 

The dress fits her perfectly and it hugs her figure in all the right places with it’s snug material. The above knee length dress has a large split up the middle, showing up to the top of her thighs and a low cut v-neckline. Deciding that it was no less flashy than what Plastique would have picked out for her, she quickly removes the dress and gets changed before heading over the counter and paying for the garment. 

She locates Nina and Plastique waiting outside the building for her, their phones in hand. 

“Girl! We were calling you!” Nina scolds, as her eyes focus in on the bag that Brooke was carrying. 

“Oooo what did you get?” Plastique inquires, as she attempts to peer into the closed bag, barely waiting for Brooke to open it before she scoops it up and holds it out for Nina to see. 

“Ooo! It’s beautiful, I definitely wouldn’t have picked this for you - but I'm so glad you did!” Plastique exclaims in awe, before continuing on to describe the kinds of jewelry she would help Brooke pair it with, earning an eye roll from both Brooke and Nina in response. 

“Okay well, while you make out with Brooke’s dress, we are gonna go get something to eat.” Nina taunts as she attempts to hide a smirk. 

With the mention of food, Plastique immediately drops the dress back into the bag and hands it back to Brooke, causing Nina’s smirk to grow.

“Lemme guess…” Brooke begins, as they all share a look. 

“McDonald's!” Plastique yells, earning a giggle from Nina and Brooke.

The group continues to talk about their plans for the party as they make their way to the car park and toss their shopping bags into the back of the car, climbing in. 

The short drive to McDonald's was filled with Pinterest boards made up of makeup ideas and hairstyles being tossed around the car, as they decide what would go well with each of their outfits. 

After they receive their meals, the group head back to Plastique’s house to get ready and get set up for the party. 

Brooke barely had time to finish her fries before Plastique was heading towards her, a makeup sponge in one hand and tinted moisturiser in the other. 

By this stage in their friendship, Brooke knows not to argue with her and simply places the empty bag onto the table before leaning back in her seat without a fuss, earning her a quiet chuckle from Nina who was browsing through one of the many gossip column magazines that littered Plastique’s room.

As Plastique did Brooke’s makeup, her and Nina begin to gossip about the people within their school and who they think would be coming tonight. Brooke spaces out as Plastique moves onto applying bronzer to the hollow of her cheeks, never a fan of drama, she prefers to leave things as they were. 

Her life, and friend group, is dramatic enough.

“Do you think Vanjie and her gang will actually show up?” Brooke hears Nina question, causing her to snap back into the conversation as Plastique is getting started on her eye shadow. 

“I doubt it.” She supplies, at the same time that Plastique answers.

“Yeah! She says she will be a bit late though.” 

A frown plays on Brooke’s lips as she repeats Plastique’s words in her head.

“How do you know?” She asks quizzically, subconsciously tilting her head in confusion, Plastique guiding it back up towards the light before continuing on buffing eye shadow into her crease. 

“Vanjie told me this morning.” Plastique replies, as Nina places the gossip magazine back down onto the counter, obviously finding their conversation more interesting. 

“Huh, when did you see her?” Nina chimes in, intrigued.

“I didn’t… I got her number last night, you were there Brooke!” Plastique announces, laughing at Brooke’s flabbergasted expression.

That meant that Vanessa has been on her phone throughout the day, since last night and just didn’t want to respond to her messages. 

“Oh… I must have forgotten.” She responds, attempting to laugh it off and hoping that the other girls won’t notice her slight slip up.

The two girls laugh along with Brooke, seemingly oblivious to the emotional roller coaster she was currently experiencing.

Once the laughing begins to subside, the trio go back to their activities and Nina gets started on her foundation so that Plastique would be able to do her eye shadow after completing Brooke’s hair and makeup. 

A short time later, and Plastique is finished working on Brooke’s eye shadow, finally settling on a golden brown in the crease. 

She adds gold glitter on the centre of the eye and a green liner in the waterline, making her bright eyes ‘pop’ as Plastique states while she completes the look. 

“Hmm. I think a pinkish nude would suit you.” Plastique mutters to either Brooke or herself as she heads over to her makeup table.

Brooke watches as she chooses a nude shade from the carefully displayed selection before tossing it towards Brooke without warning, who scrambles to catch it before it hits the floor. 

“Hey!” She groans as grasps the lipstick container tightly. 

“What? You caught it, didn’t you?” Plastique retorts as she chuckles, while Nina just rolls her eyes at the pair as she was finishing off contouring her face, ready for Plastique to work her blending magic on her eye shadow as soon as she is finished with Brooke.

“Just about.” she replies, the faux venom leaving her voice as she shakes her head at her friends antics, earning a hum from Plastique in return. 

“Ha, well while you put that on, I’ll curl your hair, then you’re ready to go,” Plastique bargains, earning an affirming nod from Brooke as she inspects the packaging of the lipstick. 

As Plastique began working on the first blonde curl, Brooke wordlessly signals to Nina to pass her a small handheld travel mirror which she uses to apply the rose-tinted nude shade to her lips in three steady strokes. Just as she is placing the lid of the lipstick into the container, Plastique lets out a groan, startling both Nina and Brooke. 

“What’s wrong?” Nina immediately questions as both her and Brooke watch Plastique face palm in the mirror’s reflection. 

“We forgot shoes for Brooke!” She states sadly, as both Brooke and Nina mirror each others reactions again, simultaneously groaning. 

“Is that it?” Brooke asks just as Nina replies, the two overlapping but still intelligible. 

“Good god, I thought you’d burned off Brooke’s hair or something…”

Plastique glares down at them both as she responds and Brooke has a brief thought that if she misbehaves, Plastique will pull on her hair.

“That’s not the point, I don’t have any pairs that would work well with that dress, all my gold ones wouldn’t fit her.” 

“Hey, it’s not a big deal, right? When you finish my hair I can get changed into my dress while you help Nina with her eye shadow, then Nina can run me home in the car to grab shoes while you get ready, okay? Problem solved!” Brooke rationalises and Nina nods along in agreement at the plan, which helps to calm Plastique down. 

Brooke knew there would be something to stress Plastique out, there was always something when she tried to plan a last-minute party. 

|| - X - ||

An hour later Brooke is heading back out to the car to meet Nina, after rushing into her house to grab the gold ankle tie sandal heels that Plastique deemed suitable to go with the green dress. 

“Ready to go?” Nina asks as she hoists herself into the car, being careful not to rip the dress as she climbed in. 

“Yep! Let’s go!” She sings, finally in the party spirit now that herself and Nina were dressed and dolled up, and that she hadn’t thought about Vanessa in the last half an hour.

_ Except I think you just broke that streak, _her subconscious unhelpfully mutters and Brooke is quick to banish the thought from her head.

A short drive down the road and the pair have arrived back at Plastique’s house where a handful of cars have already parked, showing that a few of the guests have already arrived. 

After Nina parks the car, the pair enter the house through the open front door, heading straight to the kitchen, where they knew Plastique would be preparing drinks for their return. 

What she hadn’t been expecting to find, however, was Plastique leaning against the breakfast bar, chatting away with Yvie and A’keria, two of Vanessa’s closest friends. Brooke couldn’t help but pause in shock at the image, as it was strange to see the different friend groups together, talking and being civil. 

“What’s wrong?” Nina questions as she squeezes past Brooke, who is standing awkwardly in the door frame of the kitchen. As Nina takes notice of the trio chattering away at the breakfast bar, Brooke expects her to make a face or snide comment to Brooke. However, she is surprised when Plastique beckons Nina over, and she happily walks over to the group, a smile on her face as she joins them and makes her introductions before involving herself in the conversation. 

Treading carefully as to not break the illusion, Brooke walks over to the group and nods politely at Yvie and A’keria, earning a nod from Yvie and a blinding grin from A'keria in return. 

_Where’s Vanessa, why isn’t she with her friends?_ _What if she bailed? _

_ Where does that leave them? _

She wants to ask as she recalls Plastique’s words from earlier, stating that Vanessa would be joining her friends and might be late. 

_ Did she mean Silky and Scarlet? _

Brooke always thought that Silky and A'keria were the closest with Vanessa and that they would have arrived at the party together but maybe it was easier for A'keria to arrive with Yvie and she should stop reading so much into it. 

“Thank you, Vanjie helped me pick it out - I think I sent about fifty outfit options into the group chat thanks to my indecisiveness and this is the one she picked!” Brooke hears Yvie explain, as she zones in at the mention of Vanessa’s nickname. 

“Yeah. She usually has good taste.” A'keria adds, as she stares straight at Brooke. 

“Vanjie’s great! It was lovely to meet up with her yesterday after I hijacked her and Brooke’s dinner date last night.” Plastique replies before laughing softly and the rest of the girls join in. 

“Ha, it wasn’t a _ date _. More of a dinner chat.” Brooke rambles on unnecessarily, and makes the unfortunate decision to look up and make eye contact with A'keria who continues to stare at her, causing a shiver to run up Brooke’s arms. 

_Did she know?_ _Surely not… _

Before she could continue her ramblings and second guessing, Plastique passes her three solo cups. 

“Here. This one’s for you, but would you mind running these two up to the games room? We will be up to join you in a minute, just waiting on some others to arrive.” Plastique whispers in Brooke’s ear as she hands her the cups, gesturing to the one that was made for her. 

Nodding and turning to head out the door, Brooke inspects the drinks as she walks, attempting to guess who they belong to. Two of the cups were easily recognisable as a vodka mix, with one belonging to herself while the remaining cup seemed to be filled with a fruity cocktail concoction and was probably full of sugar. 

_ Vanessa loves fruity cocktails, _she thinks to herself, before rolling her eyes internally at herself. 

_ This is ridiculous, _her every thought was plagued with Vanessa. 

“Did someone order a vodka mix and cocktail ugh-thing?” she inquires as she pushes open the door into the games room with her shoulder, letting out an audible gasp as one of the drinks spill on the floor from the motion. 

Quickly righting the cup, Brooke finds herself face to face with Vanessa who seems just as shocked by Brooke’s abrupt entrance into the room. 

Vanessa was all Brooke could see and she was looking stunning, with her hair straightened in a half up-do, the top plaited into a bun as she wore a corset style top with denim shorts and a plaid shirt. It was simple, yet on Vanessa it was beautiful. 

Irresistible. 

“Oh our drinks!” booms Silky Ganache as she collects the drinks from the still shocked Brooke, apparently oblivious to the rising tension. 

“Anyway Vanjie, I think the problem is that you need to find yourself a girlfriend, or at least get laid.” Silky exclaims as she hands Vanessa the cup with the cocktail mix. 

_ A girlfriend? Vanessa’s friends know that she is into girls? _

“Don’t you agree Brooke?” Silky questions as she whips around to face her, after Vanessa’s lack of response. 

“Oh, ah yeah.” She mutters back, a frown on her face. Looking over at Vanessa, she attempts to make eye contact before continuing on. 

“Actually, could I talk to you?” She questions, earning a nod from Vanessa as Silky stands to the side, looking between the two girls, her expression calculating. 

“Alone?” 

“You can talk here, i’m tired of you only talkin’ to me when we’re alone.” Vanessa piped up, obviously hurt and annoyed as she meets Brooke’s eyes, the pain in them evident. 

“Right, well… I just wanted to-”

“Nah! No way, y’all joking me.” Silky interrupts, her eyes darting in between them both. “Y’all are together!” She exclaims, her eyes narrowing in a mix of concentration and excitement as she attempts to piece the puzzle together. 

The two girls turn towards her simultaneously and Vanessa responds by shushing Silky. 

“Were together.”

“We _ are _together.” Brooke corrects in response, turning her gaze from Silky to convey to Vanessa how she felt. “I love you Nessa.”

“Oooo you got her calling you Nessa?! Oh y’all married, huh?”

Trying her best to ignore Silky, Brooke continues on trying to win back and apologise to Vanessa. “Look, I know I could have handled that whole mess last night better and I’m so sorry. You’re worth everything to me Ness. I’ll go set things right with Plastique right now if it makes up for it.” She confesses, as she attempts to gauge Vanessa’s reaction. 

“You don’t need to do that.” A small smile appearing on Vanessa’s lips as she replies. 

Silky tilts her head as she quirks her eyebrow and gives Vanessa a shared look causing Vanessa to shove her lightly in response. 

“God, she doesn’t need to do that, okay?” She scolds, jokingly as she shakes her head at Silky’s antics, who ignores her and takes a swig from her cup. 

“Listen, Brooke Lynn. I told you when we first started going out that I wasn’t going to force you to out yourself, especially not for me… but if we are going to date then we aren’t going to pretend we don’t at least know each other and we definitely aren’t going to jump five feet away when we see someone we know coming, okay?” Vanessa rationalises, with Brooke completely in agreement as she nods along to the points that she made. 

“Of course, I love you.” Brooke responds instantly, reaching out for Vanessa’s free hand and pulling the shorter girl closer, using her other hand to tangle into her hair as she brushes her lips against Vanessa’s in a chaste kiss, before Vanessa leans in and deepens the kiss, her arms looping around Brooke’s waist and pulling the blonde flush against her. 

“Well… as gross as this is, y’all have some explaining to do.” Silky chimes in, ruining the moment and causing Vanessa to let out a sigh. 

“Can you not read between the lines?” She cheekily replies from where she has turned towards her friend, her cheek pressed against Brooke’s chest as she holds her tightly, as if she is scared to let her go. 

“Oh I can… but I’m sure they might have some questions... “ Silky trails off, as she points over at Yvie and Scarlet who are standing behind them, in the doorway, shock evident in their expressions with slacked jaws and wide eyes. 

“Oops?” Vanessa supplies.


End file.
